by Rebecca Hannant
A 96-year-old resident at a Hedon residential home has created a Christmas model village out of cardboard and other recycled materials.
Eddie Beckett, who moved into Magdalen Park care home 18 months ago, rediscovered a lifelong interest in making things after recovering from a period of ill health.
Staff at the home say that over the past 18 months Eddie has come out of his shell and been taking part in a range of activities that the home offers, including the gardening club, before designing his own models using bits of recycled cardboard and other materials.
Eddie, who worked as a labourer before he retired, has been a keen lifelong crafter, and started making his models for his children. However, his interest was reignited after he moved into Magdalen Park, where he began to make models which were left in reception for people to take and give a donation, and he also made items for other residents.
For Christmas Eddie has built a complete model village which includes buildings, figures and even a miniature train track which has become a talking point throughout the home, with posters even dotted around the building.
Eddie said: “I’ve always been into things like this. When my children were little, I used to make them toys and rocking horses. Then life got busy, and I stopped. But now I’ve got time on my hands again, so I got back into it. Each piece takes me up to three months to make. The most challenging part is waiting for the glue to dry. I’m not allowed a glue gun, so I’ve just got ordinary glue, and I’ve got to wait.”
The models, all built entirely from cardboard, have been placed in one of the home’s many communal spaces, where residents and visitors can go. Meanwhile, Eddie’s previous models have helped contribute to a £300 residents’ fund.
Activities coordinator Kay Spicer said: “When he first came here, he was very, very poorly. He couldn’t do anything. But once he started meeting people, the gardening club and everything, he got increasingly into it. This talent just came out of nowhere. If we’re organising events, he’ll always say, ‘I can make something for that.’ He’ll put something in his box and by the next day it’s gone. Then he just makes something else.”